AgrAir | Piuarch

Milan / Italy / 2018

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Drawing on the past to set the lifestyles of the future: that was the mission of agrAir, the installation designed by Piuarch for “Inhabits” event at Milan Design Week 2018. Located in the middle of piazza Castello in Milan, the project was conceived as an opportunity to re-think about the traditional setting of the urban fabric and to recover its values in the city of tomorrow. The key features of the projects – lightness, brightness, careful use of resources, eliminating the boundaries between interior and exterior, between natural and artificial spaces - were outlined in a balanced relationship between the elements of earth and air. This relationship was thus figured out by two horizontal layers, parallel to each other. 


The lower section, at ground level, consisted of a rust colored expanded clay platform, made by Laterlite, which set a dialogue with the brick walls of the Sforza Castle. It included two pedestrian crossing and it was almost entirely covered by herbs: a sort of botanical garden, designed by the landscape designer Cornelius Gavril and enriched by colorful flowers and perfumes, that acted as a symbol of agriculture’s recovery in the city center.


Parallel to the green basement, a multitude of transparent balloons danced gently, following the movement of the air. It was a cloud, metaphor of a forest but also of the city itself, whose reflections changed color in daytime; at night, it was turned into a fluctuating lantern by the artificial lighting designed by Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design and made by Platek.


Between the two horizontal layers, some connections were drawn: the acrylic glass rods were used as support for creepers reaching to the balloons, making the indissoluble between natural and artificial.


The quality for living in the future outlined by agrAir is like a field of connections with impalpable contours, a space where links between the past, the present and the future are generated and where everything could flow without any interruption, in a set of gentle movements, lights, shadows, fragrances and colors. 


[IT]


Attingere dal passato per tracciare gli stili di vita del futuro: ecco la missione di agrAir, l’installazione ideata da Piuarch per il programma Inhabits alla Milano Design Week 2018. Il progetto, collocato nella porzione centrale di piazza Castello a Milano, ha preso infatti le mosse dagli apparati tradizionali del tessuto urbano e ne ha recuperato valori e modelli per proiettarli, secondo una nuova prospettiva, nell’ipotesi della città del domani. Ed ecco delineati così gli assiomi dell’intervento – leggerezza, luminosità, consumo attento delle risorse, dissoluzione dei confini tra interni ed esterni, tra spazi naturali e artificiali, recupero dell’agricoltura in città – in un equilibrato confronto tra l’elemento della terra e quello dell’aria, rappresentati da due layer orizzontali tra loro paralleli.


Il livello più basso, alla quota del suolo, è stato definito da una pedana in argilla espansa di color ruggine, realizzata da Laterlite, che ha permesso un dialogo continuo con le masse in mattoni del Castello Sforzesco e della Torre del Filarete. Solcata da attraversamenti pedonali, la superficie della base era quasi interamente occupata da piante aromatiche: una sorta di orto botanico, disegnato dal paesaggista Cornelius Gavril e arricchito da fiori colorati e da profumi, simbolo del recupero della biodiversità e del verde nel cuore della città.


Parallela al basamento verde, una folla di gonfiabili trasparenti a forma di prisma ondeggiava dolcemente per effetto del movimento dell’aria: una nuvola, metafora del bosco ma anche della stessa idea di città, che diffondeva riflessi cangianti durante il giorno; di notte, invece, si tramutava in un’iconica lanterna fluttuante grazie all’illuminazione artificiale, curata da Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design con il supporto di Platek.


Tra i due layer, erano infine tracciate linee ideali di connessione: sottili tubolari trasparenti accoglievano infatti piante rampicanti, protese verso i palloncini a sancire il legame indissolubile tra naturale e artificiale.


La qualità dell’abitare futuro ipotizzata da agrAir è un campo di relazioni dai contorni impalpabili, una regione dominata da sinergie tra passato, presente e futuro, dove tutto fluisce senza interruzioni, in un insieme di lievi movimenti, luci, ombre, fragranze e colori.


 

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    Drawing on the past to set the lifestyles of the future: that was the mission of agrAir, the installation designed by Piuarch for “Inhabits” event at Milan Design Week 2018. Located in the middle of piazza Castello in Milan, the project was conceived as an opportunity to re-think about the traditional setting of the urban fabric and to recover its values in the city of tomorrow. The key features of the projects – lightness, brightness, careful use of resources, eliminating the...

    Project details
    • Year 2018
    • Work finished in 2018
    • Status Completed works
    • Type Exhibitions /Installations
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